FAQ Wizard
----------
Author: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
Version: 0.7
Date: 14 August 1997
This is a CGI program that maintains a user-editable FAQ. It uses RCS
to keep track of changes to individual FAQ entries. It is fully
configurable; everything you might want to change when using this
program to maintain some other FAQ than the Python FAQ is contained in
the configuration module, faqconf.py.
Note that the bulk of the code is not an executable script; it's an
importable module. The actual script in cgi-bin is minimal.
Files:
faqw.py executable script to be edited and installed in cgi-bin
faqwin.py main module, lives in same directory as FAQ entry files
faqconf.py main configuration module
faqcust.py additional local customization module (optional)
Setup Information
-----------------
This assumes you are familiar with Python, with your http server, and
with running CGI scripts under your http server. You need Python 1.4
or better.
Create a dedicated working directory, preferably one that's not
directly reachable from your http server. Drop the Python modules
mentioned above in the working directory. Create a subdirectory named
RCS. Make both the working directory and the RCS subdirectory
wrld-writable. (This is essential, since the FAQ wizard runs as use
nobody, and needs to create additional files here!)
Edit faqconf.py to reflect your setup. You only need to edit the top
part, up till the line of all dashes. The comments should guide you
in your edits. You can also choose to make your changes to faqcust.py
and leave faqconf.py alone.
Don't forget to edit the SECTION_TITLES variables to reflect the set
of section titles for your FAQ!
Next, edit faqw.py to reflect the pathname of your Python interpreter
and the directory you just created. Then install in in your cgi-bin
directory. Make sure that it is world-executable. You should now be
able to connect to the FAQ wizard by entering the following URL in
your web client (subsituting the appropriate host and port for
"your.web.server", and perhaps specifying a different directory for
"cgi-bin" if local conventions so dictate):
http://your.web.server/cgi-bin/faqw.py
If you are unable to get this working, check your server's error_log
file. The documentation for Python's cgi module in the Python Library
Reference Manual gives plentyu additional information about installing
and debugging CGI scripts, including setup debugging. This
documentation is repeated in the doc string in the cgi module; try
``import cgi; print cgi.__doc__''.
Assuming this woks, you should now be able to add the first entry to
your FAQ using the FAQ wizard interface. This creates a file
faq01.001.htp in your working directory and an RCS revision history
file faq01.001.htp,v in the RCS subdirectory. You can now exercise
the other FAQ wizard features (search, index, whole FAQ, what's new,
and roulette).
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)
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